A label printer generally comprises a print head which is controlled to print onto an image receiving tape medium or onto a consumable in the form of a continuous backing sheet on which pre-cut labels are provided. The image receiving medium is generally provided in the cassette which is received in a cassette receiving bay of the label printer.
Some cassettes are arranged such that the image receiving medium is drawn out of the cassette to a print zone defined between a print head and a platen of the label printer. Printing on the image receiving medium occurs at the print zone. In some cassettes, a print area is provided for accommodating at least part of the print head or the platen. Some cassettes may have an opening which allows the image receiving medium to exit the cassette housing on one side of the print zone, extend through the print zone and then to exit the cassette completely on the other side of the print zone.
Some cassettes also contain an ink ribbon. The ink ribbon thus may also pass across this print zone, following a similar path to the image receiving medium.
When the image receiving medium and ink ribbon, if present, pass across the area of the cassette defined for the print zone, foreign matter such as dust and dirt can contact, stick to and damage either or both of the image receiving medium and ink ribbon. Subsequent printing using the ink ribbon and image receiving medium may therefore be of poor quality.